Biographical Synopsis of Members
Michael Heekin, Advisory Board Chair
W. Michael Heekin chairs the Florida Governor’s Health Information Infrastructure Advisory Board. He was a founding board member and the first chief operating officer of WebMD.
Michael serves on the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts' Atlanta Area Council,the Executive Advisory Board of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center Total Cancer Care initiative, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Florida Law Center Association. He earned a Master of Business Administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and law and accounting degrees from the University of Florida.
Carmen Aceves-Blumenthal, BPharm, FASCP, FAPhA.
Ms. Carmen Aceves-Blumenthal is Assistant Director and Clinical Pharmacist with McKesson Medication Management and a consultant pharmacist to Vitas Hospice Care. She regularly lectures for Morris Cody and Associates, a pharmacy continuing education provider. She is co-owner of BHS Pharmacy Consultants in Miami, a pharmacy consulting corporation. Ms. Aceves-Blumenthal was Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Southeastern College of Pharmacy (now Nova Southeastern University, College of Pharmacy) in Miami from 1987-1999.
Ms. Aceves-Blumenthal has served in many elected and appointed positions for local, state and national associations. In 2003, Ms. Aceves-Blumenthal received the A.W. Morrison Memorial Award for Meritorious Service from the Dade County Pharmacy Association. She was also awarded The Golden Capsule Award from McKesson Medication Management in 2002 and the Audrey McCann Woman Pharmacist of the Year from the Kappa Epsilon Kappa Chapter at the University of Florida in 2000. She has served as Speaker and Chairman of the Florida Pharmacists Association's House of Delegates.
Dr. Robert G. Brooks
Dr. Robert Brooks is Associate Dean for Health Affairs and Professor of Family Medicine and Rural Health at the Florida State University College of Medicine. A native "Michigander" he received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit. He is Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Preventive Medicine, and practiced medicine from 1984 through 1999 in Orlando, Florida. During that time he served as Assistant Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. In November of 1994, Dr. Brooks was elected to the Florida House of Representatives where he served until appointed Secretary of the Florida Department of Health by then newly-elected Governor Jeb Bush in late 1998. From 2000-2001, he co-chaired the statewide Commission on Excellence in Health Care, giving guidance to policymakers in the areas of patient safety and quality improvement.
In September of 2001, Dr. Brooks joined the team at Florida State University involved with establishing the first new allopathic medical school in the United States in over 20 years. Since joining the medical school he has established four separate Centers of Excellence including the Center on Patient Safety. He has published over 80 articles on healthcare-related topics, including most recently on the relationship between information technology and patient safety. Additionally, Dr. Brooks has recently been appointed by DHHS Secretary Michael Levitt to a four year term on the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Disease Council of the National Institutes of Health, and by the Secretary of AHCA to serve on Florida's Medicaid Reform Advisory Council.
Dr. Ronald R. Burns
Dr. Ronald Burns is a family practitioner in Orlando. He is currently serving as President of the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association. He is a Florida Osteopathic Medical Association Trustee and a state delegate to the American Osteopathic Association. Dr. Burns has given public testimony as a consultant before Legislative Committees in 11 states regarding Medicaid programs. In 2000-2001, he was appointed by the Florida Speaker of the House to serve on the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, Florida Medicaid. Additionally, he was appointed by the Florida Senate President to serve on the Medicaid Formulary Study Panel.
Dr. Burns was a clinical preceptor at NOVA Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine from 1995 to 2000. He received his D.O. degree from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1989 and completed his residency in family practice at Florida Hospital in 1992. He also holds an M.S. degree in exercise physiology.
Dr. Raymond F. Caron
Dr. Raymond Caron is a general pediatrician in Orlando, Florida. He has been in practice in Orlando for almost 15 years. Dr. Caron went to medical school in the Dominican Republic and performed his internship at the University of Minnesota. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the Orlando Regional Medical Center in 1988. He also has a law degree from Barry University.
Dr. Caron is currently serving his second term on the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation, U.S. Department of Education. He also served on the State of Florida Educational Commissioner Advisory Council in 2001 and has served as a State of Florida Expert Witness for the Department of Professional Regulation since 1999. He was Chairman of Pediatrics at the Columbia Park Medical Center in 1999.
Dr. Brian O. Coleman
Dr. Brian O. Coleman earned his doctorate in dental medicine at Southern Illinois University and trained at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He served for ten years at home and abroad as a Commander in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps. Dr. Coleman is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and enjoys leadership roles in the American, National Florida Dental Associations. He is an Honorary Fellow of the prestigious Pierre Fauchard International Academy, an organization that supports the highest ideals of dentistry in both ethical and moral practice through service to community, country and profession. Other professional memberships include the International Academy of Sports Dentistry, American Society of Forensic Odontology and the Seattle Study Club. Additionally, he is a board member of Florida Citrus Sports and contributes to many civic and fraternal organizations committed to scholarship and excellence.
Jeannette Ekh, M.B.A.
Ms. Jeannette Ekh is Senior Vice President and CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida where she is responsible for all aspects of information technology development, support and operations. She began her career in the healthcare industry starting as Director of Applications Systems Development for Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield (of Virginia) in 1988. She became president of a newly formed company, HSA Managed Care Systems in 1995. Ms. Ekh managed this software and services company with installations in more than sixty health insurance organizations, including major BCBS plans and commercial carriers. In 1997, Ms. Ekh became Vice President of Business Development at Health Systems Design and moved to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida in 2001.
Ms. Ekh has taught information systems courses to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Richmond and University of South Florida. She received her M.B.A. from The Ohio State University in 1986.
Peter D. Greaves
Peter D. Greaves is a Senior Enterprise Architect for Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA). Mr. Greaves has over 20 years of IT experience, 12 of them running an IT consulting firm. He is extremely active in work surrounding the National Healthcare Information Network (NHIN), and works with a number of organizations on behalf of HCA including the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH), National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT) and the Center for Healthcare Transformation (CHT). He is also involved in work around RHIOs in a number of states, including Tennessee where he lives. Mr. Greaves has chaired or participated in a number of workgroups responding to healthcare issues and RFIs, and has authored or participated in a number of whitepapers.
Mr. Greaves has worked in a number of technical domains, and in addition to his healthcare experience has consulted in IT in a number of other areas including secondary and tertiary education, mining, manufacturing, legal, forestry and publishing. He has a BA degree from the University of Natal and two post-graduate qualifications in education.
Mr. Greaves lives in Lebanon, TN, with his wife Susan and 3 children.
Kevin Kearns, M.B.A.
Kevin Kearns, MBA, serves as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Health Choice Network (HCN), a national model of successful collaboration among 26 community health centers (health centers) with 145 sites located in Florida, New Mexico, and Utah. Since joining the organization in 1996, Mr. Kearns has led the development and management of the Network's integrated management information and fiscal integration systems, centralized billing operation and electronic medical record pilot project.
Mr. Kearns also serves on the Florida SHOTS (immunization registry) Advisory Board. He is a former Chair of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Subcommittee on Health Care Finance and a member of the NACHC Health Policy Committee. Additionally, Kearns is a Certified Primary Care Effectiveness reviewer for the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) and serves on several BPHC workgroups. Kearns has provided peer-to-peer technical assistance to emerging networks of community health centers in more than fifteen states.
In February 2004, Health Choice Network received national recognition as the runner up for the Value Award in Health Care from CIO magazine. Mr. Kearns holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida.
Dr. Rhonda M. Medows, MD, FAAFP
Dr. Rhonda Medows, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health, was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue in December 2005. She leads a $10 billion agency responsible for the purchasing, planning and regulation of health care for over 2.4 million Georgians. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Rhonda Medows served as the first Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Region IV Office located in Atlanta.
From 2001 through 2004, Dr. Medows served as Secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration. In addition, Dr. Medows served as Governor Jeb Bush’s lead on policy development for health care industry issues.
Dr. Medows practiced medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She has also served as a Corporate Medical Director for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida; as the Chief Medical Officer for a multi-State Disease Management Company; and as a Clinical Director of a large pharmaceutical company. Dr. Medows received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University and her Medical Degree from Morehouse School of Medicine. She completed Family Medicine Residency training at University Hospital at Stony Brook in New York and is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Her teaching appointments have included the University of Florida, Department of Family Medicine and Florida State’s University Medical School.
Linda E. Moody, Ph.D.
Dr. Linda Moody is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida. She holds the Lewis & Leona Hughes Endowed Chair in Nursing Informatics. Dr. Moody currently provides consulting services in clinical informatics to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, and is a consultant to Clinication Software, Inc. regarding the usability of provider and patient menus and program features. For Lifepath Hospice, Dr. Moody provides research consulting services in the use of e-health and telehome care.
Dr. Moody has twenty-five years experience as principal investigator or co-principal investigator with funded research, including clinical trials, psychometrics, usability studies, methodologic studies, and outcomes analysis using large databases. She has received $8 million in federal and private grants during her career. From 1998 to 1999, she was a Senior Scholar in Residence with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and National Institute of Nursing Research. She received her Ph.D. in Research Foundations from the University of Florida in 1977.
James S. (Sandy) Phillips
Mr. Sandy Phillips currently serves as the National Coordinator for Health Information Exchange with Perot Systems Corp. In this position, Mr. Phillips has both operational and developmental responsibilities including leading Perot’s effort to support the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN). Mr. Phillips formerly served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Jackson Health System (JHS). There, he directed the operation, strategy, and improvement of all information systems within JHS including Jackson South and all long term, rehabilitation and primary care clinics. While at KPMG LLP, Mr. Phillips was a senior manager responsible for managing the electronic practice for healthcare in the southeast. He has 20 years experience in the information technology field including both management and strategy positions within healthcare and other industry verticals. He has served on numerous data standardization and interchange committees and has an active role within the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.
Mr. Phillips graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Physical Chemistry and served in the U.S. Navy in the Submarine Nuclear Propulsion Program. He retired from the Navy after 24 years combined active and reserve service.
Robert G. Reese
Mr. Robert Reese is a Partner with CSC Consulting, Global Health Solutions and responsible for overseeing the technology consulting services for providers and payers in North America. Mr. Reese has served as Chief Information Officer, Memorial Healthcare System, the seventh largest public healthcare system in the United States. Prior to accepting his position, Mr. Reese was Vice President and Solution Leader of Technology Services with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S. LLC, performing as national practice leader for technology services to the provider health care industry. Earlier at Perot Systems Corporation, he developed the corporation's entry into the healthcare industry, created key partnerships with major health care provider and managed care organizations as well as software application vendors. Throughout his career, he has held increasingly responsible information systems management, management and marketing leadership positions, focused on leveraging of technology to sustain results.
Mr. Reese graduated from West Chester University, Pennsylvania obtaining a B.S. in Management and Economics. He is a delegate, American College of Healthcare Executives.
